June 2014
Chisholm Trail opens between FW, Cleburne
There’s a new way to travel between Fort Worth and Cleburne, and the name elicits memories of a time when people were not riding on smooth pavement, but along dusty paths.
Chisholm Trail Parkway opened last month, blazing a direct trail between the two cities and reducing travel times for thousands of motorists.
The $1.4 billion toll road has been in the plans for decades, appearing in the North Central Texas Council of Governments’ long-range plan in 1974. Back then, the extension was to be built from just north of the Fort Worth central business district to Farm-to-Market 1187, stopping just short of the Johnson County line. It was projected to cost $171 million. Total Transportation 1990 outlined approximately $3 billion in spending to improve the region’s multimodal system.
In recent years, the road, whether called State Highway 121, Southwest Parkway or Chisholm Trail, has been seen as a key to the expansion of Johnson County, both in terms of population and economic growth.
While the road is open to traffic, it is not yet complete. Direct-connect ramps and other finishing touches are still to come. Still, the road will alleviate congestion along many corridors, including Interstate Highway 35W, State Highway 174, FM 1187, Bryant Irvin Road and Hulen Street.
Motorists driving between Johnson County and Fort Worth now have an alternative to the dozens of traffic lights along FM 174. They can just hop on the new Chisholm Trail Parkway for an uninterrupted journey, but this one will be much faster than in the old Chisholm Trail’s heyday.
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nctcog.org/localmotion
$1.4 billion
The total cost of Chisholm Trail Parkway, which opened May 11 as the North Texas Tollway Authority’s first project in Johnson and Tarrant counties.
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